Bigfoot phenomenon is very much alive in Iowa

By Steven KlausDes Moines Register

During the past three months Iowans have heard a lot aboutBigfoot, the legendary, ape-like creature purported to roamthe countryside at night in search of food. Some of the stories were generated by Bigfoot sightingsreported in July and September near the small town of Ottosen,where several Humboldt County residents said they either sawBigfoot or heard strange screams in the night. Many dismiss Bigfoot as a myth. Others, who believe thereis a Bigfoot, Yeti or Sasquatch that occupies a place betweenman and ape, argue the creature lives only in the Northwestand could not possibly survive in the Midwest. Nevertheless, the Bigfoot phenomenon - whether fact, fictionor hoax - is very much alive in Iowa. Since last January, Bigfoot has been reported near at least10 Iowa communities. Deeds attributed to Bigfoot range from a pile of dead chickensfound near the Mitchell County town of Riceville to the darkface that peered at a woman through the kitchen window of afarm near Ottosen. There is even one unsubstantiated report from a Sioux Cityresearch group that a man wounded a Bigfoot with a deer riflein 1974 near Stone State Park on the northwest edge of SiouxCity. In every case, authorities have been unable to establishconclusively that Bigfoot exists. Yet, they have not completelyaccepted other explanations for the events. Some law officers, like Humboldt County Sheriff MarvinAndersen, are just relieved when the Bigfoot phenomenon movesout of their area. Andersen, who spent a good part of three months chasing downBigfoot reports near Ottosen, said last week, "We haven't hadanything now for about three weeks." Andersen said he never was able to draw any conclusions fromthe reports. "I still feel like these people definitely saw something butI don't know what," he said. That was also the opinion of Iowa Conservation Officer BillBasler of Algona, who talked to some of the people involvedwith the Ottosen sightings. "I believe, too that these people are seeing something, butI don't know yet just what it is," Basler said. Most of the Bigfoot incidents reported in Iowa during thepast year have been investigated by members of the BigfootInformation Center, a group of Bigfoot enthusiasts who joinedtogether last summer under the direction of Kevin Cook, 25,of Des Moines. The center currently has four members, including Cook, whoare collecting data on each new sighting. Cook and his crew believe there are small groups of Bigfoots(or Bigfeet) traveling by night through the Midwest, generallyfollowing the Missouri and Mississippi River basins. Since last winter, they have checked out Bigfoot reports nearPella, Harvey, Oskaloosa, Charlton, Moulton, Clarion, West Bend,Humboldt, Hardy and, of course, Ottosen. Cook expects more sightings this winter. "Because of the snowfall people are more apt to see tracks,and there's not the vegetation in the winter as in spring andfall so the tracks are a lot more visible," Cook said. He also is betting that some reports will come from huntersand snowmobilers, especially in the heavily wooded regions ofsouthern Iowa, where the Bigfoot phenomenon has flared up inthe past. Several Bigfoot reports were turned in last winter in south-central Iowa, and a sighting was reported in the fall of 1975near the Jefferson County town of Lockridge in southeast Iowa.At that time, at least three persons said they saw a large,ape-like creature in the Turkey Creek area. The following is a summary of Bigfoot incidents that havebeen reported in Iowa since last January: OSKALOOSA - Matt Ver Steeg of Knoxville, a member of the IowaBigfoot Information Center, checked a report around Jan. 1 thata woman who lives northeast of Oskaloosa near the Skunk Riverhad seen a Bigfoot come out from the shadow of a tree duringa heavy snowstorm. She described the creature as weighing 600to 700 pounds and standing 8 to 10 feet tall. A few days later,another resident in that area heard unusual noises and foundstrange tracks in his yard. HARVEY - Around Feb. 20 some residents of Harvey, a MarionCounty town near the Des Moines River, reported strange noisesand track in the snow on the edge of town. Ver Steeg visitedthe area after a 14-inch snowstorm and found track that were20 inches long, 9 inches wide and had a five-foot stride. Hefollowed the tracks on his snowmobile for several miles. "Itlooked like could have been two animals the way the tracks werebecause of the way they crisscrossed," Ver Steeg said. DeputySheriff Dick Gilman said that after analyzing some hair on afence the sheriff's office concluded the creature was a cow.But Ver Steeg contends a cow could not have made those tracksand set such a pace. PELLA - Around Feb. 25 Ver Steeg was summoned to the old PellaBridge, which crosses the Des Moines River a few miles northof Harvey, to investigate a report that a 10 or 11-year-oldboy had seen Bigfoot on the road near the bridge. The boy saidthe creature had stopped to look at him, then disappeared intothe woods. Ver Steeg followed the tracks into the woods, butthey had filled with snow and it was impossible to make anykind of determination. Ver Steeg said the boy was so frightenedhe could not leave the house for several days. CHARITON - Throughout the year, Ver Steeg and Cook havereceived numerous reports of sightings and strange sounds ina section of Stephens State Forest that is a few miles northeastof Chariton, the Lucas County seat. The sightings never havebeen verified. MOULTON - Two Moulton-Udell High School students reportedseeing a creature about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 28 on a dirt road ina remote area south of Moulton known as Dean Bottoms. Theysaid it was 7 to 8 feet tall and weighed about 400 pounds. The next day their science teacher accompanied them to the area,where he found a footprint about 14 inches long with three toeimpressions, some corn that had been stripped "clean down thecob," and an area where some brush had been trampled. GaryHagler of Des Moines, a member of the Bigfoot center, visitedthe area and confirmed those findings. OTTOSEN - In all, nearly a dozen persons reported seeing aBigfoot-like creature in the Ottosen area from July throughthe middle of September. This case received the most publicityof any sighting. There were reports that Bigfoot was seen intown on at least three occasions and in the countryside twice.Farmers in the area also said they were awakened at night bystrange sounds made by something that left farm dogs terrified.And there were reports of mutilated animals, strange footprintsand stampeding cattle. WEST BEND - During the period of the Ottosen sightings, afisherman found about two dozen footprints under a bridge overthe west branch of the Des Moines River near West Bend. Plastercasts were made of the tracks, which were 16 inches long and5 inches wide. HUMBOLDT - In mid-September, a family that lives about threemiles northeast of Humboldt reported that something releasedstrange howls while moving through a ravine near their homeat midnight. The creature followed the woods to within a fewyards of the home. The sound - a hoarse howl - was so loudthat Sheriff Andersen could hear it through the telephone whenthey called him. Andersen visited the area the next morningand found places where the brush had been trampled but no tracks. HARDY - A few days later, a 16-year-old boy told authoritieshe saw a Bigfoot-like creature near dusk in a beanfield on afarm near the Humboldt County town of Hardy. He said he scaredthe creature off by honking the horn and flashing the lightsof a pickup. The next day, Sheriff Andersen visited the fieldand found footprints that ended in a wooded area. Ken Taylorof Iowa Falls, another member of the Bigfoot center, lookedinto that report but was not convinced it was a legitimatesighting. CLARION - In early October, a Clarion woman told police thata dark image had peered through her kitchen window about 10:30one night. The window, at the rear of the house, is seven feetoff of the ground. The next afternoon, police officers obtaineda plaster cast of one of several large indentations in thebackyard. Clarion is the seat of Wright County, which isadjacent to Humboldt County, where the Ottosen sightingsoccurred. The Bigfoot center's Hagler and Taylor looked intothe sighting and determined that someone could have beenperforming a hoax. They reported that the impressions theyfound were of right feet only.